‘These wide-ranging, impressive stories pay ‘absolute attention’ to the heart’s disappointments, longings, destinies and skilfully tell of a changing Ireland and a changing world. The strongest impression is of how O’Donnell’s perceptive, spiky writing convincingly captures men and women’s restless inner lives. Set in Australia, the U.S., France, Germany, urban and rural Ireland, Mary O’Donnell confidently creates in each story a world where a pivotal moment makes for a new way of looking, a new way of seeing; like all engaging short stories, the ending creates a silence in which the reader begins to imagine that story and its characters living beyond the final sentence. This is a memorable and vital collection.’ – Niall McMonagle

Praise for Storm over Belfast:

‘Mary O’Donnell’s stories shine a brilliantly illuminating light on the modern Irish world of middle-class unease’ – The Irish Times

‘O’Donnell’s wide-ranging but intimately observed stories…offer a mosaic of unconnected characters that nevertheless somehow merge in the imagination into a portrait of a changing Ireland’ – Sunday Tribune

‘One of the most delightful aspects of the book is the sassiness of the writing, underlined, as it is, by a subtle eroticism that glimmers through the pages. This adds piquancy to the language, and O’Donnell explores the new possibilities this allows her to the full. The result is a wonderfully lively and engaging text that is often humorous and impish, sometimes ironic but always compelling. Storm Over Belfast is a sparky collection of stories that are as innovative as they are compassionate. It is a difficult book to put down’ – Verbal Magazine

‘Short stories are arrows in flight – some go further than others. Mary’s travel and, furthermore, they hit the mark’ – Leinster Leader

Praise for Mary O’Donnell:

‘Thoughtful and sensuous, sometimes dashing and vibrant, her rhythms are those of life itself. A poet to read and re-read’ Derek Mahon ‘Writing at its purest and most powerful’ – Sunday Tribune

‘[Mary O’Donnell] exhibits a deep-seated pleasure in the bounty of language and adeptly uncovers the mythic patterns underlying even our most private moments’ -Anne Fogarty

‘It [The Place of Miracles] is quite an achievement’ – The Irish Times

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